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1867 Flood

Over the years I have been searching for the death of Mary Ann Russell nee Gransden and her husband William Russell. To date I have not been able to find them. The records that I do have for them seem to end in the mid to late 1860’s for both parents, although I still have some records to get which may shed some light on how long William Russell at least lived.

In the death records of their children, that I have, William is named as father but often Mary Ann is not named or known. This may indicate that the person who was giving information simply did not know it or it may indicate a bunch of other possibilities including desertion of her husband by Mary Ann, an early death etc.

One of the possibilities was an early death for whatever reason. In particular 1867 is a possibility. In this year there was a large flood across the majority of NSW, plus an extremely cold winter. A lot of people lost their lives and not all of those would have been recorded.

One eye witness account of the loss of life in those floods is included below as it was in the Bathurst Newspaper of the day. Mary and William were known to live around the Bathurst area. The family in this story were closer to Dubbo than Bathurst but deaths and problems with the rising river were happening all over NSW at this time with some quite significant flood events happening at Bathurst and the immediate surrounds.

THE FLOODS.

DISASTROUS FLOOD AT BURRANDONG

Loss of Life

(The Bathurst Times)

Mr. W. H. Suttor has handed us the following letter,

written by his son Mr F.B. Suttor, from Burrandong,

dated 23rd June. The tale it tells adds another appalling

incident in the many gloomy disasters which have attended

the recent inundation and the appeal it makes to benevo-

lence, we are sure, it will not be addressed in vain. Mr

Suttor says: –

I am writing a few lines hoping that the river will be

low enough in the morning for the boats to work, so that

I may send this to the post. We had a most disastrous

flood, though we have not lost much-a hut and some fenc-

ing being all. The water was in some of the outbuild-

ings, but fortunately, did not reach the house. Three feet

more would have turned us out. We had everything ready

to move, and remained up all Friday night and a most

anxious night it was. The river, however began to fall

about daylight.

I have now to tell of a most heartrending calamity.

The hut of a shepherd of Mr Blunden, named Baker,

who lived near the junction of the Mudgee River got sur-

rounded before he and his family could move (the water

rising six feet in ten minutes, and out of eleven persons

all were drowned but three. Those saved are the oldest boy

and girl and father. Those drowned are the mother, five

boys, a baby (girl), and a married man named Smith, who

came to help them about dusk, just before the sudden rise

of water. At the first rush of the flood, they all got on to

the tables, then onto a loft, and then had to cut a hole in

the back and get on to the top of the roof . Here they re-

mained until the water reached their mouths, when the four

left alive swam to a tree. Smith not being able to swim,

sank as soon as he left the hut. The poor old father

(Baker) gives a most distressing account of the scene- how

he held his children in his arms, dropping them as they

died (of the cold he says) to take up others that were alive

until none were left. He says the dogs, cats, and fowls

kept swimming round them and jumping on them all the

time they were on the hut.

“The survivors were rescued about daylight by the brave

wife of the man Smith who pulled a boat about a mile to

the hut, and then took them to the shore. She heard

them cooeying for a long time, and started to try and save

them, which she had great trouble to effect, the current was

so strong”‘

The following particulars of the melancholy catastrophe

have been kindly furnished by Mr F. B. Suttor, who held

a magisterial inquiry into the matter –

Isaac Daniel Baker recognised the bodies as those of his

wife Mary Ann, aged about 43 years; of his seven children,

varying in age from 8 months to 13 years; and of Frede-

rick Smith. He deposed; “I am a shepherd in the employ

of Messrs Blunden, and live near the junction of the

Mudgee and Macquarie Rivers; on the 21st, when the

sheep came home, about 5 o’clock p.m., I went to the bank

of the Macquarie, to see how the river was, I saw it was

rising; there was some high ground at the back of the

sheepyard, where I had made a gateway to let the sheep

out in case of a flood, this was between my hut and the

river; we put in the sheep and I went in to supper with

all my family; I told my eldest son Moses we would have

to remain up all night to watch the flood, after we had

supper my two children who are now alive, went to see

the flood and returned and told me that the water was

coming very fast down the gully, and was within two or

three hundred yards from the hut; when I went out,

the deceased, Frederick Smith, was coming towards

the hut to render me assistance, he said the water

had risen six feet in the Mudgee River while he

was at supper, and asked me what I was going to do; I

said we shall get the children out; we went to the hut,

and I told my wife to get the] children ready, as the water

was coming round us fast but there was still dry ground;

in about ten minutes from that time when I went out again

I found that the water had entirely surrounded us, and

there was no possibility of escape; we then all went into

the hut, I fastened the door and about twenty minutes

afterwards the water began to come in; I then put my wife

and children on the loft over the bedroom, and

stood on the table; I was not afraid, as I had

hopes that the water would not rise much higher;

at this time Frederick Smith was sitting on one of the

beams of the loft; when the water reached the

table I got off and sat on another beam, in about three

quarters of an hour the water rose to the top of the wall

plate, I then got a tomahawk and cut a hole in the bark

of the roof, the deceased Frederick Smith got out first,

I handed the children out to him, and the rest followed,

when I got out the moon had just risen, and there was no

land to be seen; I then cooeyd for the first time, it being

then about 9p.m.; we were all cooeying, and in about

three quarters of an hour heard a voice in the distance and

thought it was from Mrs Smith, wife of the deceased F.

Smith, they lived on the Mudgee River, about a third of a

mile from my hut; the water at this time about ten feet

above the floor of the hut, a short time after this, I heard

Mrs Smith call out and ask if Fred (her husband) was

all right; I called loudly for help, and told her to go to Mr

Blunden’s for the boat; we thought she understood us, and

her husband told us not to shout any more as it might

bother her; some time after, as the water still rose fast, I

cooeyed again, and she anwered. I then felt sure she had

not gone to Blunden’s; when the water reached the

ridge pole on which we were sitting, seeing

no possibility of escape I told the children

to pray; we all joined in prayer; we were all

composed but one ltttle boy, who was crying; the water

continued to rise, and we had to stand on the ridge-pole,

about half-past 3 in the morning the first of the children

died-Fredenck, seven years old the water then being up

to my middle, he was not drowned but died of cold, just

after this my boy Daniel, aged 13 years, said “God

Almighty bless you all, I cannot stand it any

longer”‘ I held him till he was dead, the next to die

were John Isaac, aged 5, and Thomas Edwin, aged 3

years, they were in the arms of my son Moses, who said

“Father, these two children are dead-what shall I do

now?” I said, “Go to the tree while you have strength

so that someone may live to tell the tale”, he said,

“Father, I believe I shall be the only one saved”, he

then kissed me, and swam safely to the tree, which was

about twenty yards from the hut; I called to him that

his mother was still alive, and that I would hold her as long

as there was life in her; Some time after this my

wife died, and I let her go; I then went to take the baby

from my daughter Cecilia, but she said, ” No, father, you

cannot hold her better than me, and I cannot hold her

much longer;” I then kissed her telling her to hold the

baby as long as she could, and then to swim to where her

brother was; I swam to the tree and with the assistance

of my son Moses, got on the limbs; a very short time after

I heard a splash, and Cecilia calling for help, I heartened

her to strike out, and she came within arm’s length of us;

my son Moses leaned over, caught her, and pulled her up

the tree; the water was up to her chin when she was

washed off the hut, and she dropped the baby; Andrew

William, aged 9 years, died just before I left the hut, about

that time, also, the deceased F. Smith, who was holding

Henry Shadrach, aged 11 years, told me the boy was dead;

I said, “You have done all you can, you must try

to shift for yourself – can you swim?” he said,

“No, give me what directions you can-I may

have a chance;” I did so, and he started for the

tree, but sank at a short distance; about sunrise, Mrs.

Smith, wife of the deceased F. Smith, came in a boat by

herself, and released my son Moses (17 years), mydaughter

Cecilia (15), and myself-the only survivors of our family-.

and brought us to dry land.

Mary Anne Smith deposed to the difficulties she met in

bringing the station boat to the rescue, without assistance,

as soon as daylight permitted, and the exhausted state of the

unfortunate survivors.

It is to be hoped that charitable persons will forward

subscriptions to the aid of Mrs. Smith, now left a widow

with five young children. This brave woman has great

claims on her fellow-creatures, not only on account of her

destitution, but for the noble way in which she put off in

her log canoe into the roaring flood in the hopes of saving

the lives of others at the risk of her own, the water at the

time being fully fifty foot above its usual level.

The bodies of Mrs. Baker and her seven childron were all

Fix this textfound near the hut when the water subsided, and presented